Valedictorian surprises graduation crowd, draws cheers

A school district under pressure to keep prayer out of meetings and gatherings got an unexpected delivery from one high school valedictorian

Saturday, at Clemson's Littlejohn Coliseum, Liberty High Valedictorian Roy Costner IV took his speech to the podium, and in front of the crowd, tore it up.

John Eby, Pickens County School District spokesman, said, "They write their speeches. They send them to someone on staff to have them approved."

But Costner clearly had something else in mind.

After speaking for a few minutes, he thanked his parents for leading him to the Lord at a young age, and then he said, "I think most of you will understand when I say, 'Our Father, who art in heaven…" as he began to recite the Lord's Prayer.

Much of the crowd broke into tentative applause that then grew into cheers that nearly drown out Costner's voice as he continued the prayer.

Brian Hoover, who is from Liberty and attended the graduation, said, "You couldn't even hear him doing the prayer anymore because everybody was clapping and cheering."

Costner finished, pointing his finger in the air for emphasis, saying, "For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen," followed by more cheers and applause.

Hoover said, "From the ACLU sending FOIA requests to every district in the state this year after the Chesterfield County case, then the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent us a complaint about religion at board meetings and some other issues as well. That is why the reaction to the prayer at graduation was loud."

The district says there will be no repercussions because of the prayer.

Costner was out of town on Monday, but he said he added the prayer to the speech because God is the biggest part of his life.

According to a school publication, "Costner plans to head to Clemson University in the fall to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. He said he hopes to work as a computer programmer overseas, but has dreams of saving up enough to come back and start a chain of restaurants in the U.S. He said computer programming was an interest he picked up outside of school as he developed a local news website, "Liberty Speaks."

In the publication Costner is quoted as saying: “I have big ideas for mobile applications, and even for starting a new social network, but I don't have the knowledge to pull it off yet."

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